Magnus Lambourne

Magnus Lambourne (15 October 1811-17 July 1885) was Governor of North Dakota from 1870 to 1878, succeeding Theodore Sandow and preceding Murdoch Dence.

Biography
Magnus Lambourne was born on 15 October 1811 in Indiana, Pennsylvania to a Protestant family, and he passed the bar examination in 1832. He was a well-known lawyer in western Pennsylvania for years, and he joined the American Whig Party during the 1840s. However, his political loyalties would change when he moved out West to North Dakota, and he grew resentful of the United States government's high tariffs. Lambourne decided to focus on states rights as a US Democratic Party member, and he was elected to the state assembly in 1862. Lambourne ran for Governor of North Dakota in 1870 and beat US Republican Party challenger Donald S. McGonagle, entering office as a very conservative politician. Lambourne advocated the use of force against the Sioux in order to forcefully assimilate them, and he was a major voice of temperance. In 1878, he decided to allow fellow Democrat Murdoch Dence to become the new Governor, as he decided to retire. Lambourne died in Fargo in 1885.